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History - From http://www.snowdoniaheritage.info/pdf/pilgrims/pilgrims-nefyn/traeth-trefor-english.pdf

It was granite quarries that produced the setts to pave city streets. There was great activity in the areas around Penmaenmawr and the Eifl, and people would move from one to the otherthere from other. Samuel Holland was a prominent person in this industry – the father was a pioneer in Ffestiniog and his son in the granite quarries of the Eifl area. The work began here about 1830, and when Trevor Jones became the quarry supervisor the village at the foot of the Eifl - where Trefor got it's name. By 1850 the area’s granite quarries were owned by ‘The Welsh Granite Co. Ltd’. It was bought for £3,000 and the shares were worth £13,000. In 1911 the Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan quarries were joined with the Eifl ones to form the ‘Penmaenmawr and Welsh Granite Co. Ltd’.
Trefor quarry developed to be the world’s biggest granite quarry, and by 1931 had produced 1,157,000 tons of setts.

The quarry is still occasionally active and Trefor granite is used to make curling stones.

Pool Parc, near Ruthin, dates back to the 16th Century when it was home to the Salesbury family and the manor house was rebuilt for William Bagot, 2nd Baron Bagot, in the 1820s.
It was apparently lost in a bet by the Bagot family and it was later sold to the District Health Authority, becoming a convalescent home and then an asylum, used as an overspill for North Wales Hospital in Denbigh before closing in 1989.

Have also found an old pic of what it looked like in better times

It is very dark inside and if you are doing the upper floors take a good torch as someone has removed the odd tread in the temporary staircase

I have sat on this one for a fair while.earlier in the year I made quite a lot of trips here trying to find various bits of it.I had been on a visit here years ago and saw some bits,but I knew there was so much more to it.being near to me it was essy to go regularly to check it out.there is security on the site and cameras.so you just have to be a bit careful.Coltishall is now used as an industrial estate with many old buildings in use.it started off as battle of Britain fighter base during the second world war.fighter planes off various sorts were flown from here including hurricanes and spitfires.after the war it was used heavily in the cold war and was designated as a V bomber dispersal site.basically a back up airfield if the aircrafts hme airfield was damaged.the last planes to be based here was the jaguar jets.these saw service in the first gulf war.with the introduction of the euro fighter Coltishall was deemed none essential and so the station closed in 2006.it was a big question what was going to happen to the site.then Norfolk county council stepped in and bought it and this raised a few eyebrows.there track record is not great.

SERGEANTS MESS

I have visited the officers mess a few times meeting up with pretty vacant and JSP o one time as they visited too.the sergeants mess though is like the officers mess but not so grand.here the NCO's could relax and unwind,there was accommodation provided on the wings and a new block added.

The more modern accommodation blocks.

RECREATION

As usual with the armed forces recreation is a big factor.on coltishall there was a pool,gym and five aside football plus fields for grass sports.sadly the gym is a no go now.

BATTERY MAINTENANCE

This building was for storage off batteries for planes and veichles.jet planes carry some hefty batteries so a place was needed to store them safely,also there was a bit at the front for testing and draining the batteries.it had a morgue feel to it and now known as the battery morgue.

BOMB STORES AND FUEL

A different way in was needed to do these as they are a fair way from the main site.and with CCTV covering the way down I did not want to get caught in the open.like most airfields the bomb stores are located a fair way from the main base for safety.and near to where they would take off.here there was a large building for testing the bombs and making sure they were safe.nearby is the fuel stores.not sure if these were for the planes or not.

Fuelling depot

HANGAR

AS per standard there are four hangars here.several are in use.most of the maintenance work on the planes went on in here.to the sides there is offices and canteen areas.there was seriously nice airmans graffiti in here.

JET TESTING

With the advancement of jet engines on planes there was a need to test the engines.coltishall had two testing parts,an indoor and an outdoor one.the out door one allowed the planes to back up to the exhaust duct and fire up its engines which would then be passed through the exhaust duct and through the chambers.the test bay is surrounded by thick concrete blast walls.

The indoor one was a similar style to the other.but this was used for engines unattached to the plane.acroos the way is another building,this was were they would repair the engines,they would then be transported to the tester.clamps on a rail would move across and grab the engine.it would then be moved to the exhaust duct for testing.note the array of cameras around the clamping system to monitior the testing process.

The indoor one was a similar style to the other.but this was used for engines unattached to the plane.acroos the way is another building,this was were they would repair the engines,they would then be transported to the tester.clamps on a rail would move across and grab the engine.it would then be moved to the exhaust duct for testing.note the array of cameras around the clamping system to monitior the testing process.

Thank you for looking.I did take lots more photos here but I could be forever on this post .with more smaller buildings.

This turned out to be a good day out with @SpiderMonkey and Exxperious. This is a big site, by far the largest RAF base I've explored in terms of area covered, so we spent the whole day looking around it.

History of RAF Bentwaters
RAF Bentwaters is a former Royal Air Force station in Suffolk, named after Bentwater Cottages, two small houses that stood on the site of the main runway prior to its construction. Construction of the base began in 1942 for use by RAF Bomber Command and opened for operational use in April 1944. In December that year it was transferred to No. 11 Group, RAF Fighter Command. The runways were constructed in the typical RAF layout of one main runway diagonally intersected by two secondary runways, forming a triangle.

The base was used by the RAF during the Second World War, and then used by the United States Air Force from 1951 until 1993, primarily for efforts during the Cold War. Bentwaters was to play a key role in the defence of Western Europe during the Cold War when large numbers of USAF aircraft were assigned as part of the air arm of NATO.

Current Uses
Bentwaters was handed back to the UK Ministry of Defence in 1993 and was subsequently closed. Now known as Bentwaters Parks, the site is used as a business park and filming location. Owners are constantly developing the filming and production facilities available at the site. Movies and TV programmes filmed there include Derren Brown's Apocalypse, movies The Numbers Station and Fast & Furious 6, along with some Top Gear stunts, amongst others.

In 2007 the Bentwaters Cold War Museum opened, including tours of the fully restored “War Operations Room” and “Battle Cabin”.

Aerial view of the site after becoming Bentwaters Parks

Star Wars Building

The so-called “Star Wars Building” is surrounded by concrete blast walls and contains some interesting spaces including a medical room.

The Star Wars Building

Concrete blast walls

Entrance of the Star Wars Building

Medical Facility

Bomb Stores

Built during the Cold War to securely store nuclear and conventional weapons, the bomb store was heavily fortified with three layers of fencing, razor wire, a swing-arm vehicle barrier, two gates, pressure pads, armoured guard house, guard tower and overhead cables to keep helicopters out.

We didn’t get passed the gate!

Entrance to the Bomb Stores

Armoured Guard House

One of the storage facilities with overhead cables

One of the store buildings had a couple of old fire engines parked up behind it....

Planes and Helicopters

There are all sorts of jet aeroplanes and helicopters parked up around the site, in varying states of decay and dismantlement.

Exxperious modelling his entry into "Miss Fighter Jet 2018"

K-9 Building

The K-9 building contains spacious dog kennels.

K-9 Building

Kennels inside the K-9 Building

Hangers

The site has a lot of hardened aircraft shelters, or hangers, spread out across a vast area. Several are in use by private companies, and others are empty. A common feature of the hangers is the huge sliding doors that form the entire hanger's frontage – these slide to the side on rails to open up fully allowing access for aeroplanes.

One of the many hangers

Typical interior of the hangers

Original sliding door controls

The framework sits on rails and supports the huge doors, allowing them to slide fully open

527th Aggressor Squadron Hardened Aircraft Shelter

Deputy Commander Operations

This building had been out of use for quite some time and is suffering a lot of decay. The moisture and condensation cause constant rainfall inside the building, which was ideal for plant growth.

Deputy Commander Operations building

Runway, Control Tower and Maintenance Vehicles

We didn’t make it over to the control tower, which is situated within the live business park area of the site. The runway still has some of the maintenance and de-icing vehicles parked up.

The Control Tower pictured in 1972

The Control Tower today (poor quality due to crazy crop, as we didn't go over there!)

North/South runway with the control tower in the distance

De-icer truck

The Hush House

Originally built as a jet engine testing facility with an exhaust tunnel, the Hush House was a soundproofed hangar where fighter

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